Morning Bled at the Water's Edge
by When The Tide Comes In
Summary: Dr. Denman returns to the Gold Coast just three weeks before the ominous blue moon—and this time she brought company. Meanwhile Rikki learns her actions have consequences, Sophie and Charlotte blackmail Lewis into betrayal, Will proposes to Bella, and Cleo learns what it means to let go of someone you love. Emma arrives just in time to watch everything fall apart. R&R. Rewrite.


**information & a/n;** the promised rewrite of _morning bled at the water's edge, _this time with twenty percent more mermaid drama! haha. now, just a little information regarding the story: i'm going to be updating every five reviews, and the average length of the chapters (excluding the prologue, which is supposed to be short) should be around twenty five hundred (2,500) words.

dedicated to sirenbyheart, a.k.a mimmie. love you bby! x

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><p>"When you're drowning you don't actually inhale until right before you black out. It's called voluntary apnea. It's like, no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head is literally exploding. Then when you finally do let it in... that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore, it's actually kind of peaceful."<p>

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0. ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ

**_I_**t was raining and they weren't in the car anymore. Will groaned, confused by the sharp pain radiating through his skull, and tried to make sense of where he was. He looked around for a familiar landmark, a statue or store or road sign or something, but couldn't recognize anything. It was dusky and his vision was blurred, darkened around the edges. What happened? Will wondered. Why did his body feel shattered in a thousand different places? Just minutes ago him and Lewis had been on their way back from town, perfectly fine. They'd been arguing over which radio station to listen to when everything suddenly went black. Dazed, Will blinked the seemingly endless rainwater from his eyes and tried to squint past the darkness that edged his vision.

"Lewis?" He asked quietly, his voice little more than a rasp. His mouth felt slick, oily almost, and tasted like copper.

As Will's fuzzy vision began to improve he was able to start deciphering their surroundings. It was still hard to see, especially through the rain, though now Will could tell they were on the big highway. Him and Lewis must've been in a car accident, he reasoned with himself, that was the only explanation as to why he was hurting so badly (and as to why he was laying in the middle of the road). Will dug his fingers into the wet asphalt, steaming from the humidity, and tried to pull himself toward Lewis's body. Lewis hadn't been thrown too far from the car, but Will knew, due to that short distance, he probably hit the ground much harder.

"Lewis?!" Will called again, louder. It hurt to speak. "Lewis!"

The world shifted in and out of focus as Will slowed his crawl to a stop. He hurt too badly and the rain left him too cold to go any further. Despite his violent shivers, his entire body felt as though it were filled with hot lead—there was a splitting pain in his lower left calf, too, and his right shoulder blade felt strange. Out of socket, perhaps.

Cell phone, Will's mind suddenly supplied. He needed a cell phone. He had to call for help. Will knew his mobile was out of the question, he could feel it in thousand different pieces in his back pocket. He had to try and get to Lewis. Hopefully his had survived the crash.

"Lewis!" Will called again.

It was silent, and then; "Will?"

Lewis's voice was soft, barely a whisper, and Will wondered if he'd imagined it.

"Don't move," Will said, just in case. He grit his teeth through the pain and began to crawl again. He moaned at the agonizing burning in his leg. "We don't know how bad you're hurt. Stay still, but stay awake. Okay?"

"Wrist is broken," Lewis slurred. "Bone's sticking out. Can't feel my right leg."

"Okay. Ew. Where's your phone?"

Silence.

"Lewis! Phone. Where is it?"

"Plugged in. In my car. S'dying, kinda' like me." Lewis responded, joking morbidly.

Will swallowed the panic threatening to rise in his throat. "Shit. Don't say that Lewis, we're fine. We're gonna' be fine. Shit. I'm going - going to try and make it to your car. I'm going to get your phone and call for help. Just stay awake for me."

He hauled himself toward what was left of Lewis's vehicle, glass from the shattered windshield slicing through his forearms like butter. After minute or so of dragging himself something dawned on Will. Where was the other car? It was then he noticed Lewis's tires, all four of them were flat. That must've been why they lost control. It also made sense as to why Lewis's Malibu was essentially wrapped around the guardrails.

Will was just inches away from the driver's side door when he saw headlights racing toward them in the distance. He suddenly remembered the strange voicemail Lewis had received just days earlier. _We_'re_ coming, _the sultry french woman had said, leaving the hair on the back of Will's neck standing on end, _and_ _w__e're going to find you._

Will crawled faster.


End file.
